Selecting mechanism



g 1946. J. A. SPENCER ET AL SELECTING MECHANISM Filed June so, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l 474M155 14. BY

. Augam, 1946- J. A. SPENCER. ET AL 2,406,04

SELECTING MECHANISM v Filed June 30, 194A -3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS lam/H420 F'IQE/NHOLO 52/1459 ,4. y s/vase ATTORNEY Aug. 20, 19456. J. A. SPENCER ET AL QQ SELECTING MECHANISM Filed June 50', 1944 I s Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS MES ,4. ,S'PE/VGE'E ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 20, 1946 1 UN II E D STAT ES TENT OFFICE" 2,406,044 SELECTING MECHANISM Delaware Application June 30, 1944, SerialNo. 542,926.-

19 Claims.

This invention relates to selecting mechanisms, such as used in printin telegraph receivers and the like.

Our invention is directed to certain improvements. in selecting mechanisms, such asdisclosed in our copending application Serial No. 485,186, which was filed April 30, 1943, now U. S. Patent No. 2,375,828, patented May 15, 1945. In the invention of that copending application we provided-an .arrangementof internally notched code rings .in combination with an exploring member mounted on a rotatable shaft, the code ring being settable in accordance with the received code signals and the exploring memberbeing arranged to seek an alignment of code notches arranged internally. of.the rings. When such alignment of code notches is reached by the exploring member, thelatter acts as a stop to arrest therotation of. a shaft on which may be mounted a typewheel or other device to be selectively oriented.

Among the objec-tsof our invention are the following:

1. To provide a selecting. mechanism having positivelyactuated .settable elements for storing the efiects of received code signals.

To provide an improvedmeans in said selecting, mechanism forsetting up, a. permutational.

arrangementiof internally notched code rings in accordance with a received code signal.

3. To provide improvements in. the design and operating characteristics of an exploring arm which serves to stop the rotationof. a-shaft in a selected position of orientation.

4. To, provide improvements in the design of i an exploring member mounted on ,a rotatable.

mechanism inc1uding signal storage elements,

cam-driven devices for setting each of a plurality of internally notched rings according as they are selected by the marking elements of incoming.

code signals, an exploring arm, and other com ponents of a complete selecting mechanism;

Fig.2 showsa-fragmentary frontelevati'on of l 2 the. storage mechanism viewed as in anintermediate stage of its cyclic operation;

Fi 3 shows still another front elevation oi-the. selectingmechanism, with parts represented as havin actuated selected. ones of thecode rings;

Fig. 4 shows a plan view partly in cross-section of the. apparatus, including gears and clutch members for drivingthe necessary cams andthe rotatable shaft which carries the, explorin me m ranged to release certain triggering levers so that.

at aparticu1ar point in, the ,cycleof operation, a .cammctuatedmechanism shall selectively actuate. different internally notchedcode rings to rotate thecsamethrough asmall, angle. Upon .releasinga clutch which rotates. the cam shaft, the selected code rings; are moved-into Position to set up an alignment of their internal notches. Thenecessary number of coderings being simultaneously moved into aselcctedposition, the. exploring arm is released forrotationfromitshomingpcsition to whateverposition .is to- .befound. havingan alignmentof code notches. The exploringarmis retarded just before being brought to a full .stop. Assuming that av typewh'eel is vmounted on the same shaftvvith, the exploring,

arm, this .typewheel will then beset for printing a selectedjcharacter After the printing opera tion,,the code rings are. restoredto normal, and this operation. itself. disengages .the exploring arm forreturn to its homing position. At that point,

it is again arrested by a stop. member so that its driving clutch must slip until another selective operation takes place.

Referring now. to Fig. l, weshow oneof the impulse responsive magnets i having an armature 2. A spring 3 holds the armature'away from the pole piece of the magnet. A stop member 4 determines the gapbetween the pole piece and the armature when the magnet is not energized. Mounted .on the armature member Z is a button 5 which engages with alug 6 on a tripper memher i. Magnets for the different units of uniform length ,code signals are so arranged as to engage .with difierent onesof a. series of tripper members ,1, where all of the latter are mounted cordingly, the tripper members 1 are provided with a plurality of actuating lugs 6 and 6, either of which may be kicked by one of the armatures 2 or 2'. Each tripper member I is held in normal position by a spring 9. A notched lug on each tripper member engages with the end of a settable lever Ii having an upstanding extension 2 for supporting a thrust bar i3. Each of the levers II is held in normal position by a spring Ila. An edge surface of each lever acts as a cam in engagement with a single lever arm M which is common to all of the storage mechanisms for the different code rings. Lever arm I4 is held in normal position by a spring l5.

All of thrust bars l3 are pivotally mounted at |6 on a single cam-actuated lever H, the latter being pivoted at l8 and having an extension arm Ila which carries at its upper end a roller IQ for engagement with a cam having a, hump 20 on its periphery. A spring l'lb causes the roller 9 tobe pressed against the cam. Shaft 23 is intermittently driven and carries two cams, the humps on which are referenced 20 and 24 respectively. Alternatively, the two humps 20 and 24 if merged into one hump could be included in the peripheral surface of a single cam, whereby levers Hand 26 would be actuated in succession. The mechanism for driving shaft 23 intermittently through a positive clutch device powered by a continuously running motor 68' (Fig.4) will be described in more detail hereinafter. The actuation of lever I! by means of the cam hump 20 causes thrust bars l3 to move to the right in Fig. 1 and each of the thrust bars which is permitted to drop down into engagement with a toe-piece 30a on a lever 30 causes selected ones of the levers 30 to be rotated counter-clockwise on their common pivot shaft 3|. The selection of thrust bars l3 for this operation is provided by counter-clockwise rotation of the settable levers II when released by their associated tripper members 1. Those of thelevers H which remain in normal position after reception of a code signal [continue by means of their extensions l2 to support the thrust bars 3 so that they ride over the tops of the toe-pieces 30a. The right-hand extension of each lever 30 has a rounded end seated in a peripheral notch 32 in an associated code ring 21.

An assembly of coaxially disposed code rings 27 is positioned and supported by at least three posts 28 having spacing members 28a thereon for suitable separationand individual holding of the code rings in parallel planes and in coaxial alignment. An indexring 29 is also provided, this ring being delineated as though broken away so that only about one-quarter of its full circumference is shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Each of the code rings 2'! is rotated clockwise through a small angle by an individual setting lever 33. The selective engagement of individual thrust bars l3 with the toe-pieces 300: on levers 30 has been described above.

A plurality of detent levers 33 is mounted on a common spindle 34 and each of these levers engages with one or the other of two peripheral notches 35 in its associated code ring 21. The rounded end of the detent lever 33 is seated in one of these notches or rides over an intervening hump, exerting pressure thereon which results from the tension of a spring 36.

A positive clutch is shown in Fig. 5. This clutch is arranged to rotate shaft 23 intermittently for actuating the lever arm I! (Fig. 1) after the code signal has been stored by the selective mechanisms which are under control of the code signal responsive magnets The first one of the levers l2 to be tripped in response to the reception of a marking code signal element actuates lever l4 so as to cause the release of lever 39 for clockwise rotation through a small angle. Lever M has a lug 38 for holding lever 39 in its normal position. Upon release, however, the lever 39 rotating on pivot 40 allows contact springs 2| and 22 to be closed. These contacts, as shown in Fig. 5, are in circuit with rings and brushes of a rotary distributor.

The distributor is composed of segmented rings all-and 8| and slip rings 82 and 83. Slip ring 82 receives the code signals and distributes them through the segmented ring 88 to the several magnets Slip ring 83 has D. C. potential supplied thereto from a local source. Segment 84 and brush 86 are used to time the actuation of clutch release magnet 60 when prepared by the closure of contacts 2| and 22. The distributor rings, as shown in Fig. 5, are designed for twochannel multiplex operation so that one-half of each ring is assigned to one channel and one printer, while the other half is assigned to a different channel and printer. The top half of the developed showing of distributor rings and 82 is appropriate to the selecting mechanism and printer shown in the drawings. The bottom half of these rings would be serviceable in association with a second selecting mechanism and printer. In order to time the operation oftheclutch release magnet 30 so as to followthe reception of the complete code signal combination, segment 84 is lo cated in the lower half of the distributor ring 8|. Segment is reserved for use in association with a different clutch release magnet (not shown).

A pinion gear 62 is mounted on the shaft of a speed-reducing gear train 69 which is constantly driven by the motor 68. Hence, gears 63 and 64 meshing with pinion 62 are constantly driven. The hub of gear 63 has a fluted portion 65 which is positioned in coplanar relation to a pawl 66 pivotally mounted at 67 on a cam member Ill. The cam member is keyed to the shaft 23. Its periphery contains one step for engagement of a back-lash pawl H which presses thereagainsi; by virtue of the tension of a spring 12. Pawl 36 is urged by a spring 73 to engage with one of the flutes in the hub 65.

The brushes 86 and 37 rotate synchronously over the distributor rings and when D. C. potential is applied to magnet 60 by closure of its circuit through the distributor segment 84 and contact segments 2| and 22, the armature BI is attracted. This causes the extension arm -6|a to be disengaged from a lug on the pawl 36. Spring 13 then moves the pawl into engagement with the fluted hub 65 and shaft 23 is thereby driven through a single revolution. Upon completing this cycle, the magnet 69 has already been deenergized so that the extension arm 6| is moved back into the path of the lug on pawl 66, thereby disengaging this pawl from the constantly rotating hub 35. The homing position of the cam 10 is thus reached whereat the back-lash pawl rides over the step in the cam 10 and locks this cam in its normal position.

During the single revolution of the shaft 23, not only is the lever arm I! actuated, but, as a restoring operation, lever arm 26 is subsequently actuated, its roller 25 being caused to ride over the hump 24 on one of the cams which are mounted on shaft 23. The function of the lever arm 26 is to restore the selected code rings to their Operation of-the selecting mechanism ,I-Iaving, in mind :that the selecting mechanism is designed to set up .a perm,utational arrangement of code rings 3! so that at some-{point .inteurnallybf the-ring :assernbly their code notches wil-Lbe. brought intoalignment-for arresting the exploring'arm 49, .we shall now describe the suc cessivesteps in. the-selectingcycle, reference beinggmadestoaall of thefig-ures, but especially to Figs.v 1, 2, and 3 for showingdifferent stages in the selecting cycle.

Magnet I, whenitis-energized in response to a .code;signal impulse, attracts its armature 2 and rotates its. associated, tripper member l counterclockwise .against the tension of spring 9. Lever ll:isrthereby-disengaged from a notch in the lug lillof the-;trippermember l. Lever H also rotates counter-clockwise subject to the-tension of spring lla-.. The-supportingextension l2 moves to the left andaallowsthrust bar 13 ,to. be dropped into positionior, engagement with the toe-piece 38a on'the-coderingactuating lever 30. The signals stored-bye trippingrthe levers 12 are thus translated intosettingmovements of the levers Wand theecode rings 2]; all; aspreviouslydescribed.

Lever 39-:When=tripped is moved by tension of spring 2l: and-isxstopped by the end of a screw 41; -The -rnotion;of;lever"-39 is sufficient, however, tosclosethe contact'points; of springs 2i and 22, foreactuatingthe clutch release magnet 60 in the manner heretofore described.

Fig; 2 shows' thepositions occupied b the several-portions. of the selecting mechanism after storing'the-signal and just prior to the actuating movement of the code rings in response to the rotation of-the cam shaft 23. This actuating movement rotates lever arm l'l counter-clockwise and causes-thethrustzb-ars.isteither to ride over the tops 015717118 tO8pieCeS3filL in which case there will bernoesetting, of the associated code rings, or el -s e,;; as: when the. thrust bars l3 have been dreppeds they causecounter-clockwise rotation of the lever members thus producing clockwise rotation of :each selected code ring 21.

Thestopsscrew. 4|, beingsmountedon alng at I the-endp fleven arm ll;-nowpushes against lever s9-iandp-causesi1the contact springs Zland 22 to be 7 separated; thus opening the circuit of the clutchmagnet 6Q: Thelower end of lever 39 now rides over andis cocked--by=the lugfifi on lever 14.; The'extension 4'! on lever l1 frestores levers I 8.-I1d -;1 :totheir normal positions in which lever l I -iss1atched: :by! the ex-tension 0 on lever l.

v Friction clutch.- drive for typewheel shaft The shaft;5-2,;which carries an exploring arm 49 and -92typ6WhBe1 (not shown) or-other member to be brought into any selected position of orientatiQn,.-is-dri-ven threugh'friction clutch plates'i i and-:IEi-between which maybe interposed adisk lli of.frictionfabric. Clutchmember 'l'fi-is keyed to .the .shaft..52-,.while clutch member id-is constantly driven .byitsassociated gearnilrthi gear meshing with...pi-nion I 52., at. the; end of -ashaft, in the. ,speedreducing ..gear (59.. The clutch .lnemberiii] I 4- andzgear :64. :are;.-looselymounted on theshaft 52:.- Compressiombetweenthe clutch plates 1.4 and I5 is brought about by means of a helicalspring ll: whiclrisibacked-upby nuts. 18. threaded :on to therendgotfth'e shaftfiz. Ball bearing assemblies l il-sandxlfiware; used as Journals for the shaft 52.

vIt-wi'll be; apparent from the description above and; from the drawingsthat the shaft 52 isurged bythe friction. clutch-mechanism -to:-rotate whenever:releaseohby:start-stopslever 5Q: The-shaft:

52 may. also be :arrested in any given selected positionupon actuationv ot the exploring arm 49 now to: be described.

The exploring arm the methodrof arrestingthe exploring armsude denalya- :Was1 such' as, to: imposeasevere mechanical 5 strainsupon the structure and to shorten the life of ;the apparatus. This wasdue to. the con-' siderable weightrofj the exploring, arm andathe typewheel-or other element which wasmounted on a friction driven'shaft such as shait'52-in'Fig;

1. Accordingly, we have provided ameans for retarding 'the exploring, arm-and whateverelaments -are rotatedtherewith on a commonshaft before they are brought to a full stop.

Fig. -l showsuthe exploring arm 49, in-its hom- I ingposition fromwhich; it is released for making;,;a cyclic excursion. Fig. 3 shows the exploring arm was it appears'after being arrested. in accordance with the position of alignment of code notches in the settable code rings 21. The exploring arm is started -on'-its excursion by the actuationof a startlever Ell-at the free end of which isa lug 56a normally engaging with a projectionfil at oneendof .the exploring arm ,49. The start lever. 50 is, moved downwardly upon setting the code rings ZLsince a cam follower rollen'fiiib, normally ,seated ,i in the code- Wheel notches Z'i'a, isbrought out to themain periphery of the code, rings 12,? V and; rests thereon subject to the tension of 1 a. spring 500.

In.or d er t0 prcsentaniedgewise viewin Fig. 4- of the .exploringarrn M and to clearly depict the elements carried. thereby, ,it should be assumed ii-410i Fig l; Also, in Figs. land 3, it will be understoodithat only the one code ring 21 which stands immediately. behind the index. ring 21 is,

show Asliding index rod Ediiscarried by the exploring. arm 65in position to be moved longitudinally with.respectthereto, The ,index rod 54 is held in place bystraps53 screwed onto the exploring arm l Spacing bushings 5.3a. (Fig. 4) surround the screws oristuds bywhiohthe straps 53 are secured tothelmember lfl. A spring 55 is attached atone encl .torthe exploring arm 49 and atthe othenend to an ear-piece 56 on the index rod 5 3.

At the upper endoi index rod 54. (as shown in Fig. 1), is, a projection 54541. which is arranged to seat. itself .in any. one-of the indexing notche in .thestationary indexringilfi, thisring being heldjrom turningby means ofa pin 281! through, one of the posts. 28. The, end Mb of the rod M is suitablyshaped tolactupon the radia-Ledgesofacam .53 (hereinafter referred to asa .cloverleaf cam). and,v after rotating. this cameo-that thelintegrallyeformed paddleeblades 53 drop into ,an alignmentof code ring. notches. further rotation. .of cam- 5'!reacts uponthe.index rod and against the tension of spring 55 to retard the shaft 52 until the indexing function is completed.

The cloverleaf cam 51 is: pivotally mounted at 59. .The four blades 58 of the paddle wheel device are disposed transversely of the inner edges of all the code rings 21. The exploring arm 49 while rotating to a point where an alignment of code ring notches is to be found allows the leading one of the paddle wheel blades 58 to graze the-inner edges of the code rings 21. A rubbing pressure is also contributed by the action of sprin 55 and the aforementioned cooperation between the index rod end 54b and the cloverleaf cam 51 so that the latter tends to rotate onits spindle 59 in a counterclockwise direction.

. When ablade 58 is engaged by an alignment of notchesin the code rings 21' the cam member 57 becomes hypocycloidally movable to a selected pointof arrest. The stiffness of the spring 55 is sufi'icient to produce a torque slightly less than the effective torque of the friction clutch 14, 16 through which shaft 52 is driven.- The cloverleaf cam 51 and the paddle wheel blades 58, therefore, perform the function of retarding the exploring arm 49 prior to the entry of the index rod end 54a into the positioning notch 290'. where it is fully stopped.

The position of arrest of the exploring arm 49 is shown in Fig. 3, where it appears that the index rod end 54a has been latched into a notch 29a, and where the index rod end 54b has mounted to the outer extremity of a leaf in the cam 57.

The restoring mechanism As heretofore indicated, the restoring movement is brought about by control of the restoring lever 26 when its cam follower roller 25 rides over the cam hump 24 rotating on shaft 23. The peripheral notch 31 in each of the code rings 21 is sufiiciently wide so that the free end of lever 26 normally occupies the relative position shown in Fig. 1 with respect to the rings that have not been set, and it occupies the relative position shown in Fig. 3 with respect to any of the rings which have been set. Accordingly, the selected rings are restored to normal by downward pressure applied by the restoring lever 26. This movement causes the alignment of code ring notches to be upset. The engaging paddle wheel blade 58 is thus lifted out of the code ring notches and the rotation of the cloverleaf cam 51 causes the index bar end 54b to ride over the highest part-of one leaf. Spring 55 immediately contracts so as to disengage the index bar end 54a from the notch 29a in which it was latched. The

exploring arm 49 is now free to rotate in response to the driving action of the friction clutch members 14, 15. Thereafter the exploring arm 49 rotates to its homing position where it is again brought to rest by engagement between the exploring arm projection 5| and the lug 50a on the start-stop lever 50.

It is within the scope of our invention to utilize its selecting mechanism in any apparatus which requires selective orientation of the shaft 52 and the arrest of that shaft for performing any subsequent operation. It is immaterial, therefore, whether this shaft carries a typewheel, the contact arm of a rotary switch, or other element to be oriented. For example, if the shaft 52 carries a typewheel, the associated apparatus would conventionally function to produce a stroke of an ordinary printing platen for printing a character. If, howeventhe selecting mechanism is intended to be incorporated into a conventional selector switch, then the wiper arm of said switch may take the place of the typewheel and a circuit closure may be made through any selected contact segment in an arcuate bank of such segments.

It is, of course, to be understood that our invention is capable of modification in various ways and that the exact features of design of the particular embodiment herein shown and described need not be adhered to, but that the spirit and scope of the invention is much broader than merely to cover this illustrative embodiment.

We claim:

1. Orientation setting mechanism for a rotat able shaft, comprising a plurality of internally notched selector rings each corresponding to an element of a selective code signal, a motor adapted to run constantly during the operation of said mechanism, means for driving selected ones of said rings from an unselected to a selected position, said means including transmission gear and a positive clutch driven by said motor, tripping mechanism for causing the clutch to be engaged and to rotate through a single cycle, a cam rotatable with the intermittent element in said clutch, a reciprocating device including a plurality of coaxially pivoted thrust bars and a cam follower engaged with said cam, marking-code-signal-responsive storage means for selecting a permutational combination of said thrust bars, levers individually associated with said thrust bars and individually engaged with peripheral notches in respective ones of said code rings, control members in said storage means for selecting certain ones of said thrust bars for simultaneous actuation of said levers, an exploring arm mounted on said orientable shaft and arranged to seek and to be arrested by an alignment of code notches in said rings, a friction clutch driven by said motor for urging said orientable shaft to rotate, and a start-stop detent under control of the actuated code rings for releasing said exploring arm from a homing position, and for arresting the same after it has been arrested at, and been 1released from, a selected position of orientaion.

2. Orientation setting mechanism in accordance with claim 1 and including a stationary index ring having internal notches, a slideable in dex bar mounted on said exploring arm, and means for causing one end of said index bar to be moved radially into engagement with a selected notch in said index ring for arresting the exploring arm in a desired position of orientation.

3. Orientation setting mechanism in accordance with claim 1 and further characterized in that said levers are formed with toe-pieces disposed in the path of selected thrust bars and underlying the path of non-selected thrust bars.

4. Mechanism for selectively orienting a rotatable shaft and for arresting the same in a predetermined position, comprising an exploring arm aflixed to said shaft, a motor and friction clutch for causing intermittent rotation of said shaft, a release-and-stop detent for normally holding said exploring arm in a homing position and for releasing the same to be rotated by said friction clutch, a plurality of internally code-notched selecting rings, coaxially pivoted levers having rounded ends individually seated in peripheral notches of said rings and comprised in means for moving said rings from an unselected to a selected position, said means including thrust bars selectively and individually engageable with toepieces on said leve'rsand including a cam-actuated swingwhich provides pivot'ar-supportcomthrust bars shall engage with associated lever toe-pieces to actuatesa'idcode rings, means carried by sai'd' 'exploririg arm for causing'its'arrest 'ata'po'sition determined by an alignment of code notches'insaid rings, means for causing the setting'and'res'toration of said rings to controlsaid 'releas'e-and-stop detent, and a positive clutch driv'n' by said motor and Controlled by the'times orreception or signals to which said storage means is responsive, said positive clutch being effective to operate said cam-actuated swingand snowc'ausethe restoration of said rings.

"-5. In'a device of the'class described,'a rotatable shaft, a plurality of selectordisks for determining'a position of orientation at which said shaft is to be stopped, means including an'ex- 'plo'ri'ngarm mounted on said shaft and carrying a swiveled'seeker which cooperates with said selector disks for arresting the rotation of said shaft, 'a'friction clutch through-which Said shaft is power-driven, a latch member slidably mounted on'said exploring arm'a'nd cooperating with saidseker, anda spring interconnecting said latch member andsaide'xploring arm and constituting means for causing'the latch member to-so actuate'said seeker that the rotation speed of "said shaft is retarded as it approaches said position of orientation.

6.In a device of the class described; a powerdriven friction clutch, a shaft arranged to be intermi'ttently driven through said clutch, selector mechanism including a plurality of internally notched-selector rings for determining different selected positions at which said'shaft is to be stopped, a stop arm fixedto'said'shaft, an index rod longitudinally slideable with respect to said stopar'm'; a'stationa'r'y index ring having internal notcli'es with which'said'index rod may be engaged, and a seeker member swiveled on said stop arm, said seeker member having radial blades for engagement with the selector ring notches and a cloverleaf cam for cooperation with said index rod.

'2. The combination as defined by claim 6 and including a spring for urging one of the radial blades of said seeker member to enter a transverse alignment of notche in said selector rings, which alignment results from the operation of said selector mechanism, and for causing the withdrawal of said index rod from a notch in said index ring upon upsetting the alignment of selector ring notches, the upset being inherent in the completion of operation of said selector mechanism.

8. In a printing telegraph receiver, a plurality of selectors, means for variably operating said selectors in accordance with received code combinations of impulses, a typewheel shaft subject to rotation through a motor-driven friction clutch, a stop arm carried by said shaft, a startstop detent controlled by said selectors for releasing and restraining said stop arm, hypocycloidal- 1y movable means carried on said stop arm for causing its arrest in a position determined by the operation of said selectors, and resiliently acting means for impeding the rotation of said hypocycloidally movable means thereby to retard the typewheel shaft as it approaches the selected position of stoppage.

9. The combination according to claim 8 in which said hypocycloidally movable means possesses radial blades for engagement with said selectors at points'determjined by their permutaftio'nal"settingvvhen operated in response to'sa'id impulses;

10; The combinationaccording'to' claim: 81 and having a slideable index bar nio'unted'on'said'stop arm, an'internally notched stationary index ring being provided for locating said selected positions or-" toppageartne typewheel sha'ftjand onee'ndbf 'sai'dindexbar beingrnovable into an'd'out of en- "gagement with the index ring notches under con- 'trol of said hypocycloidally movablemeans.

11. "In mec nism for selecting a positionof arrest of a rotatable shaft, a, plurality of internally notched selector "rin'gs permutationally operable in accordance with received code combinationsof impulses, anexploring arm'fixed on said'shaft, a stationary "index "ring having 'inner peripheral notches for locating different 'positions'of' stoppagecf said" exploring arm,'an index bar slideably mounted on "said arm and having one end movable into "andbut of 'latohin'gengagefnent with any selected one of the'index ring notches, a cam pivoted on said "exploring arm and having peripheral cam faces engaging withtheother end or'saidundex 'bar for interaction therebetweenjmeans rotatable with said cam for seeking an alignment of notches in said selectorrin'gs, anda "resi1ient "linkage betweensai'd exploring 'arm'a ndsai'd'index bar for resisting the turning momentum'of 'said'shaft and what it carries, said linkagebein'g' effective by virtue of the facility of the'last said means forrolling into a ring'notch alignment, thereby to'actu'ate said cam and index bar.

'IZIIn mechanism for selectively orienting-"a rotatable shaft, a 'motor driven friction clutch forurging' saidsha'ft to rotate'in one direction, a stop-arm mounted'on" said shaft, a 'detent ope'r able to hold"s'ai'd stop arm at a homing position aridto'rel'e'as'e "the "same for making a cyclic e'xcursion, a plurality of""internally notched code,

rings "selectively movable through "a limited are for determining a position of arrest of said stoparm during an excursion, said code rings being constructed and arranged to actuate said detent, an index bar carried by said stop-arm and movable radially in relation thereto, an index ring having its inner periphery notched for engaging said index bar at different selected positions, a member pivotally mounted on said stop-arm and having paddle-wheel blades for effecting engagement with an alignment of code notches in said code rings, thereby to retard the progress of said stop-arm, said member also having a cam portion arranged and adapted to cooperate with said index bar, and a spring for applying pressure between one end of said index bar and the periphery of said cam.

13. In a selecting mechanism, a stop-arm mounted on a shaft to be restrained from rotation after selecting one of a plurality of possible positions of arrest, power-driven friction clutch means for urging said shaft to rotate, a detent operable to release said stop-arm for cyclic rotation from and to a homing position, a plurality of internally notched code rings permutationally operable to set up an alignment of their code notches, thereby to select different positions of arrest of said stop-arm, an index ring having a saidstop armto be retarded as it approaches a selected full stop position which is determined by the entry of said index bar end into a notch of said index ring.

14. The combination according to claim 13 in which said means controlled by the setting of said code rings includes a swiveled member one portion of which possesses paddle-wheel blade elements engageable in an alignment of code ring notches, and another portion of which is formed as a cloverleaf cam against the peripheral edges of which an end of the index bar is pressed, the.

tension of a spring being supplied for exerting the 7 pressure.

.15. In a device for arresting a friction-driven shaft in a selected position of orientation, a earch arm rotatable with said shaft, a seeker member pivotally mounted at one end of said search arm and arranged to explore an orbital path in search of a hindrance to its progress, means for producing said hindrance at a selected point along said path, and resiliently held means for causing said seeker member to move hypocycloidally between the position where it is first retarded by said hindrance and the position where it is finally arrested.

16,. In a device for arresting a friction-driven shaft in a selected position of orientation, a search arm rotatable with said shaft, a seeker member pivotally mounted at one end of said arm and having a toothed gear portion and a cam portion, internally notched selector means surrounding the orbital path of said seeker member, the notches of said means being capable of alignment for causing a tooth of said seeker gear portion to mesh therewith, and means for engaging the cam portion of said seeker member thereby to impede the rotation of the seeker member on its pivot, and hence to produce a braking action prior to the arrest of said shaft.

17. A device according to claim 16, and including a latch arm in said means for engaging said seeker cam portion, and a recessed stationary member with which said latch arm is engaged upon outward thrust thereof by said seeker cam portion.

'18. In a device of the class described, a search arm mounted on a friction-driven shaft and arranged to explore an orbital path, a bladed member pivotally mounted at one end of said search arm and capable of hypocycloidal movement, an index arm slidably mounted on said search arm and having a contractile spring which links it to the search arm and urges it into engagement with a Cloverleaf cam structure integrally formed with respect to said bladed member, means normally acting to restrain said bladed member from hypocycloidal movement, said means being selectively adjustable to introduce a hindrance into the region surrounding said orbital path, thereby to effect said hypocycloidal movement of said bladed member and thus causing its progress to be retarded by the extension of said spring, and means into which said index arm is caused to be latched upon extending the same against the contractile force of said spring.

19. In a device of the class described, a powerdriven friction clutch, a shaft arranged to be intermittently driven through said clutch, selector mechanism including a plurality of notched selector rings for determining different selected positions at which said shaft is to be stopped, a stop arm fixed to said shaft, an index rod longitudinally slidable with respect to said stop arm, a stationary index ring having notches with which said index rod may be engaged, and a seeker member swiveled on said stop arm, said seeker member having members for engagement with the selector ring notches and a cam for cooperation with said index rod.

JAMES A. SPENCER. LEONHARD F. REINHOLD. 

